Lenny Platt on What to Expect from ‘Quantico’

Expect Lenny Platt to shake things up at the FBI Academy in Quantico. Cast as Drew Perales, a retired NFL player joining the academy alongside other new recruits, Platt will undoubtedly clash with the show’s lead, Alex Parrish (played by Priyanka Chopra).

Here, Platt tells us about what to expect next from the show (which returns with new episodes on March 6), his thoughts on the recent criticisms involving the NFL and what it’s like to shoot in Montreal.

Long Island Pulse: You’re joining the cast of Quantico midseason. Were you a fan to begin with? Lenny Platt: Yeah, out of all the pilots that I read last year, it was the one that I thought had the strongest premise and it was the one that was most interesting to me, personally. And I actually majored in criminology at the University of Florida because I thought for a minute that I wanted to be an FBI agent.

Pulse: Tell us about your character, Drew Perales: Platt: Drew is being brought in to kind of be, not an antagonist, but more of a counterpoint, like an omega to Alex Parrish’s alpha. She’s the best of the best and the three other [recruits] come in and they’re actually older than the current class, they’re a month older, and they kind of shape up the current crew because they’re like: ‘Wow, these guys are better than us, they’re faster, they’re stronger, they’re smarter, they’re better trained.’ The dynamic between Alex and Drew particularly is pretty fun because they’re both alphas and they’re both independently the best of their class and being put head-to-head I think makes for interesting television.

Pulse: Drew is a former NFL player, and this isn’t the first time you’re playing a character whose storyline involves football. Did you ever play the sport yourself? Platt: Yeah, I played football for about nine years. I played Little League and then I played in high school and I stopped playing before college because, at that point, you kind of have to get serious about it. I love football but it wasn’t my passion.

Sometimes I played a character and [football] hadn’t necessarily been an important element to the character’s plot or his story but with this chance, I’m grateful because the football history, his background, playing for the NFL [influences] his storyline and it tells you why he’s in the FBI.

Drew was a star wide received for the Chicago Bears, why would he leave this illustrious career and go into the FBI? So it’ll be interesting to see what choice has brought him to that.

Pulse: There’s been a lot of criticism surrounding the NFL recently. Specifically, health concerns involving the sport. How do you feel about that? Platt: I don’t know enough about it honestly personally. I will say that Drew feels very strongly against the NFL for the way they handle this data and I think that will come into play heavily on the show.

Pulse: You shoot in Montreal, Canada. How is that? Platt: It is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been to. It’s not too far from New York, I think it’s an hour-long flight? But the thing is, it feels like another world because French is the primary language here so all the street signs are in French, so it does feel very unique in that way. I’m eating better than I’ve ever eaten but then I’m also on a show that requires me to be in fit physical conditions, so it’s kind of a sick joke, really, but I’m doing the best I can!